Pages

Monday, October 26, 2009

What price vulnerable children?

The Times today has a series of three articles describing the dire state of the under-resourced family justice system, and its consequences for 'vulnerable children' (a phrase that appears in the headline of each article). One article is by Christina Blacklaws, who seems to be running a one-woman campaign to highlight the problems, and is essentially a layperson's version of the article that she wrote for the Gazette last month. The other two articles are both by Frances Gibb, one concerning the risks of the proposed cuts in legal aid and the other dealing with the post-Baby P increase in care applications and its consequences for Cafcass.

The Times has, of course, long taken an interest in the family justice system, and has been running a campaign to open up the courts. Whether or not there is any 'agenda' behind the publication of these articles is unclear, but two things are certain if more resources are not pumped in:

1. The unacceptable delays in the system, which must harm the children involved, will only get worse.

2. The quality of service that those children are likely to get from those within the system will deteriorate, simply because there will not be enough experienced professionals (be they social workers, Cafcass officers or family lawyers) to cope with the demand.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. Constructive comments are always welcome, even if they do not coincide with my views! Please note, however, that comments will be removed or not published if I consider that:* They are not relevant to the subject of this post; or* They are (or are possibly) defamatory; or* They breach court reporting rules; or* They contain derogatory, abusive or threatening language; or* They contain 'spam' advertisements (including links to any commercial websites).Please also note that I am unable to give advice.

Disclaimer

Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. If you require legal advice upon any family law related matter then you should consult a solicitor. Any links to other blogs or web sites are provided for convenience only and I cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of such linked blogs/sites.